Officials listen but make no promises on education funding

Saturday

Oct 27, 2007 at 12:01 AMOct 27, 2007 at 10:09 AM

When state officials came to Fuller School last week to discuss education funding, Gloucester residents were on hand to tell them they’re fed up with the system, and it’s time the city got its fair share.

Stephanie Silverstein

When state officials came to Fuller School last week to discuss education funding, Gloucester residents were on hand to tell them they’re fed up with the system, and it’s time the city got its fair share.

Little was held back as those in attendance told state officials what is flawed about the system, and how it is unfair to Gloucester public schools.

Sen. Bruce Tarr and Rep. Anthony Verga joined Sen. Robert Antonioni (D-Leominster) and Patricia Haddad (D-Somerset), the chairs of the legislature’s Joint Committee on Education. Also participating in the forum was Michelle Norman, in place of Dana Mohler-Faria, who was unable to attend due to illness. Mohler-Faria is Gov. Deval Patrick’s special adviser for education, and Norman is Mohler-Faria’s chief policy director.

“I understand how difficult it is to be a staff person and feel there’s not enough, to be a School Committee member and know there’s not enough,” Haddad said.

City officials, teachers, parents, and students in attendance expressed frustration with the current system and their suggestions for how to improve it.

“There’s no money in our schools,” said Dylan Benson, a freshman at Gloucester High School.

Benson said the schools are “filthy,” and the athletic fields are in poor condition. He asked the state officials why Gloucester does not have a drama teacher. Benson said his teacher photocopies pages of a textbook for students because there is not enough money for each student to have a book.

“Regardless of that funding, you’re producing a product like this kid right here,” Verga said.

Education funding from the state is provided through Chapter 70, which is heavily weighed to property values. In Gloucester, property values are high because of its proximity to the ocean, but the income is not on par with the property values. Many of the residents in attendance, as well as the state officials, pointed out that the Chapter 70 formula needs to be changed so it is not as reliant on property values.

The current formulas were established as part of the educational Reform Act of 1993. One of the formulas calculates the minimum amount of money it should cost to educate one student in a particular community.

“It includes a number of variables, such as compensation for teachers and inflation,” Tarr said. “The other formula determines the amount of aid a community should receive by determining its ability to pay and measuring that against its required spending as calculated by the foundation budget.”

Antonioni said changes to the formula have been made, and others are being considered.

“The thought many of us had is we would gradually update those variables,” he said, adding that property values are not relied on as heavily now as they once were, and that income is now a factor. He said the variables still have to be updated, and that the state is in the process of phasing in a new formula now.

One of the factors considered is the number of students in each community.

“What happens when a community loses students? That’s a factor that is considered,” Antonioni said.

City Councilor Jason Grow said, “We need to stop the flow out of this community.”

Tobey, who is also the vice president of the Massachusetts Municipal Association Board of Directors, said the legislative and executive branches need to focus on Chapter 70 for Fiscal Year 2009. He said he wants to see a comprehensive statement on or before March 1 for how much money the community can expect to receive.

Tobey said he wants to see revenue sharing, and a new relationship between cities and towns and the state.

Superintendent Christopher Farmer said, “We know what the problem is. Fixing the formula is not rocket science.” He said the hard part is a distribution formula. “There has to be an attempt to redistribute resources,” he said. “It’s not about adequacy, it’s about equity, and I don’t see any plans to address it.”

Gloucester has been receiving an increase in its Chapter 70 aid since 2004, but the aid is still not back up to the level it was in Fiscal Year 2003. In Fiscal Year 2007, the city received $5,678,696 — about $1 million less than at its peak in Fiscal Year 2003.

“We are slowly addressing reducing the amount of money given to some communities” that are getting more money than they should be, Haddad said. “It’s being phased.”

There is a minimum that each community will receive, set at 17.5 percent of its foundation budget. The maximum is 82.5 percent. Haddad said some communities have been receiving more than 90 percent.

“We’re not getting our fair share,” said City Councilor Sefatia Romeo. “That 17.5 percent is wrong. Essex County alone is being punished.”

Tobey said, “We are fighting over the scraps.” He pointed to other communities, such as Lynnfield, that receive so much state aid they are able to put some of it into the stabilization fund, while Gloucester is forced to take from its fund. “We need to rebuild a meaningful partnership with a revenue sharing [model],” he said.

Norman said the state is looking at education funding for the future, not just the current crisis. “We can’t focus only on this minute,” she said, adding that while she appreciates the “momentary crisis” and the importance of education to the students who are currently in the school system, the students coming up behind them need to be considered, as well.

Grow asked why Gloucester could not get back to the level it was once at.

“We had a decrease in the number of jobs and we rolled back the income tax. We just don’t have the money,” Haddad said. “We still have a serious problem.” She said getting more jobs and businesses into the state would help so more people would be paying income tax.

“If you want more money in Gloucester, you’ve got to change the formula based on your current expenses,” Antonioni said, before leaving the meeting one hour early to play in a hockey game.